Some drivers spend their entire lives working to get where DJ VanderLey was in 2011 as a Super Late Model rookie in the closing stages of the Snowball Derby.

On that mild December night at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, VanderLey found himself to the outside front row next to Chase Elliott with only four laps to go, only moments away from engaging in the restart that is best described as quintessential Snowball Derby.

Elliott spun his tires and VanderLey inched ahead into Turn 1 of the storied Florida half-mile, but just couldn’t clear the now iconic No. 9 Chevrolet. They stayed side-by-side for the final four laps, Elliott not allowing the VanderLey No. 4 Ford to drop to the bottom in front of him.

VanderLey slid off Turns 3 and 4 coming to the checkered flag and could only watch as Elliott, and not himself, celebrated his first career Derby triumph by a scant margin of .229 seconds.

The Mobile, Alabama native has not come close to winning in the three years since, even failing to qualify for the 2013 race. That only strengthen his desire to reminisce about 2011, asking himself if he should have dropped behind Elliott to push him up the track or if he could have pinched him closer to the line.

VanderLey says that’s the hardest he has ever raced, but it was also the cleanest, and there are times where he wonders if he should have done something differently. He says he thinks about that restart every day and calls it the best and worst thing to have ever happened to him.

“On one hand, it boosted my career and gave me motivation to keep pushing,” VanderLey said. “But on the other, people come up to me all the time and ask about it. It pains me to have to watch it again. It really sucks coming that close and missing it.

“I’ve known people that have run this race for 30 years, and have never won it, and I had a chance in my very first start. Those chances just don’t come around that often.”

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Graduating with honors from Auburn University in 2014, VanderLey translated his mechanical engineering degree into a full-time job at Richard Childress Racing, working on the XFINITY Series Chevrolets most-recently driven by Brian Scott.

While it’s a job in racing and VanderLey is grateful, the 23-year-old still yearns for a life driving race cars rather than fixing them — and the Snowball Derby is an opportunity to remind the world that he’s just as talented behind the wheel as he is under the hood.

“At this point, we don’t have any races planned for 2016,” VanderLey said. “Work keeps me very busy and we can’t afford to keep it going like I would like to. If we can find someone who wants to partner up, I’d love to make some more starts, but that’s just wishful thinking right now.”

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The red and white No. 2 entry is family-owned and will be crew chiefed by his dad, Dan — president and founder of VDL Fuel Systems in Mobile, Alabama. It’s a tight-knit group that will work on the car, full of talented mechanics that believe in their driver.

VanderLey has already proven he has what it takes to contend alongside the likes of Elliott, Bubba Pollard and Daniel Hemric. It’s just a matter of staying on top of the changes of the track during Race Week and catching all the breaks come Sunday afternoon.

In finishing second to Elliott in the closest finish in Snowball Derby history, VanderLey has already achieved the monumental.

Now he just wants to win.

“We’re here to make history again.”

Snowball Derby week begins on Wednesday night with the qualifying pill draw and pit party. Time trials for the race is on Friday night with the race itself kicking off on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Speed51.com will provide a live Pay-Per-View broadcast.